Detaching system



TM mm H mm cm .E FD

July 6, 194.

5 sheets-sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 2, 1 940 M w C H .0 Lu .E FD

July 6, 1948.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed 0ct. 2, 1940 1 July 6, 1948.

Original Filed 001;. 2, 1940 F. 1.. CROCKETT 2,444,554

DETACHING SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 L J. w

Patented July 6, 1948 DETACHING SYSTEM" Frank L. Crockett, Tenants Harboifl Maine, assignor to Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts i 1 Original application October 2, .1940, Serial No. 359,385, now Patent No- 2,353,812, dated July 18, 1944. Divided and this application August 13, 1942, Serial No. 454,751

This invention relates to comber detaching systems, being a division of my application Serial No. 359,385, filed October 2, 1940, Patent No. 2,353,812, dated July 18, 1944, to which reference may be had for all matter herein disclosed but not described.

The object is generally to improve th piecing of the lap and to do it by mechanism of easy action and quiet operation, and therefore to this end the invention specifically concerns the piecing rollers themselves and the means by which they are driven with an alternate forward and backward motion.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a top plan of one of th combing heads of a Heilmann type cotton comber, including part of the drive head and showing the detaching and piecing rollers.

Fig. 2 is a detail of the front roller.

Fig. 3 is a top plan of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagram of the drive head.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the combing head.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the epicyclic system, and

Fig, '7 is a section thereof on line XVIIXVII.

It will be understood that the row of combing heads'are driven by the drive head at the end of the machine by means of various longitudinal shafts journalled in the intermediate frame uprights I. The roll of cotton lap is supported on the creel rollers 2 and 3, on longitudinal shafts 6' and I, and by them the lap is delivered downwardly to the nipper feed roller 5 whichfeeds it into the nipper jaws 8 and 9 by which its forward end is held while being combed by the comb cylinder 10.

After such forward ends have been thus cylinder-combed, the nipper jaws 8 and 9 moving forwardly, deliver the terminal tuft of combed fibers to the detaching mechanism, opening at the same time, so that the tuft may be drawn awayfrom the body of the lap.

The detaching mechanism includes a pair of back'rollers II and I2 of which the lower roller I2 is formed on a through shaft driven from the drive-head. They seize the front ends of'the combed fibers presented to them by the nippers, and by their forward rotation separate-the tuft from the lap still held by the feed roller 5 and pull it through the teeth of the top comb l3 which has been lowered for that purpose. The top comb combs the tail ends of the fibers constituting the tuft as they are drawn forward by the detaching rollers.

* *Th'e detaching rollers receive-thezfront end of.

6 Claims. (Cl. 19.121)

the tuft on top of the tail end ofthe preceding tuft, with an appropriate overlap, thus piecing the tufts together to form a continuous-fleece composed of a succession 'of imbricated tufts.

For this purpose the rollers are given an alternate forwardand backward rotation, referred to as the piecing motion. In their forward motion they detach the tuft, as just stated, and in their backward motion they return and expose a considerable length of the rear ends. of the fibers inposition to be overlapped by the next-arriving tuft. Preferably, though not necessarily, the

axis of the top roll II is traversed forwardly and backwardly over the top of the bottom roll 12, in synchronism with the intermittent rotation, so as to faciiltate the overlapping process.

In the present case, the detaching mechanism includes also a pair of front rolls I4 and l-5 of which the latter is athrough shaft driven from the drive-head. These rotate on fixed axes and their function is to compress or.consolidate the pieced fleece produced by the back rolls. They partake of the same alternating movement as the back rolls and deliver the consolidated fleece between the sliver-pan-walls I 6 to the trumpet IT by which it is converted to round or sliver form andfrom which it is pulled by the action of the calender rolls l8, the latter rolls being on a through shaft. From the calender rolls the sliveris drawn along the sliver table 20 in the usual manner to the drawhead, not shown because it constitutes no part of the present invention. All of the foregoing is according tothe. standard design of this type of comber.

The top detaching roll I l receives its traversing motion, above mentioned from the wagshaft 15 at the rear of thevmachine which is connected by the goose-necked link connection 18 with the stirrups 19 of that roll; which stirrups are formed .as levers supported on the fulcrum axis 80.. This tively driven, the lower roll l5 beingon a through shaft as already statedand the upper r011 being 7 geared .to it. As-shown by Figs-2 and 3, the left :handgudgeon. of the-top roll it. is journalledin a bushing 84 slabbed to fit in the straight-sided slot of an L-shaped frame bracket 85 and thereby held directly over the bottom roll I5. This gudgeon carries a small spur gear 86 fast thereon and normally covered and concealed by the belied end of the bushing. This gear meshes with an equal gear formed on or attached to the roll shaft I as indicated at 86c. Thus the top front roll I4 is positively driven by the lower roll I5. Both gears are sufficiently protected by the bell of the bushing so that their lubrication is safely isolated and kept from contact with the fiber.

Pressure is applied to the gudgeon at each end of the top roll I 4 by means of a stirrup 81 (see Fig. 5) attached to the top of a weighted rod 81a which passes down through a guidin hole in the bracket 85. By lifting these stirrups and turning them to one side, the top roll I4 is free for removal. A common clearer cover 89 is applied to both top rolls H and I4, the same being link-connected to the posts 88 on the stir-runs 19, so as to move with the back roll.

The novel feature of the roll assembly just described is the hard, smooth-surfaced, front rolls, both positively driven. Heretofore it has been the practice to use a steel fluted roll for the bottom roll and a soft or leather-covered top roll held on it and driven by pressure contact therewith, the theory being that since these rolls have to receive a succession of regularly overlapped tufts from the front rolls the soft grip of flutes on the leather would be least conducive to disarrangement of them. I have found that two smooth, polished rolls produce a better interlocking of the heads and tails of the freshly-laid tufts and deliver a much smoother-and firmer fleece, weight for weight, provided the top roll is positively driven and this discovery is part of this invention. Only moderate weighting is required for such roll. a i

The two bottom roll shafts I2 and I5 are provided with pinions I21; and I5a located in the driving head or compartment, and they are geared to each other by a long-tooth idler I22 on top of them. Forward and backward rotation is imparted to the pinion I50: by the larger gear I2I which is itself an idler or intermediate and the drive of which is effected as follows:

As shown by Fig. 6 the end of the comb cylinder shaft II! is connected, at the draw-head end of the machine, to drive a through countor-shaft II3 through a train of change-gears represented generally by H4. By substituting gears in this train the shaft II3 can be driven at a selected speed and such adjustment changes the ratio of the forward and backward motions of the detaching rolls as-will presently appear. This shaft II3, termed the slow-motion shaft, extends through the several combing heads and terminates in a gear box H5 located in the-first combing head, next to the frame-wall separating that head from the drive-head.

Within the gear box M5 the slow motion shaft H3 carries, fixed on it, a spur gear H6 which drives a somewhat larger gear I I1 and which in turn drives a smaller gear II 8' fast on one end of a short shaft I I9. This shaft extends through a slot in the partition wall into the drive-head space where it carries a pinion I20, fast on it, meshing with the larger gear I2I above referred to as driving the pinion I5a.

The gear I I1 is journalled in a link I23 swinging from the slow-motionshaft as a center and the shaft IIQ is journalled, at one e'n'd' ina link In (in the gear box) and at thei'other end' in 4 the arm of a cam lever I25 (in the drive-head), both link and arm being fast on the axle I25a of gear I2I as a center. The gear I2I is free on this shaft. The shaft H9 and the axis of gear II! are held in fixed relation by a link I26 connecting them. The cam lever I25 is oscillated by its bowl I21 in a cam-groove I28 carried on the inner face of the main gear 91 (on comb shaft I0) and its rocking movement raises and lowers the two axes just referred to, thereby causing gear I H to roll as a planetary gear on gear I IS, on the slow-motion shaft, and gear I20 to roll as a planetary gear on the gear I2I. This action, as will be understood, constitutes the orbital motion of the system and adds to the motion of gear I2! in one direction of oscillation of lever I I25 and subtracts from it in the other. The degree of addition and subtraction depends on the angular velocity of the lever I25 with respect to the selected angular velocity of the slow-motion shaft I I3 and the gearing is commonly so organized as to give the detaching rolls about two-thirds revolution forward and onethird revolution backward on each nip, thus providing for the overlap of the tufts, above described.

As can be observed from analysis of Figs. 4 and 7, taking note of the arrows, the backward motion of the detaching'rolls occurs when the planetary gears are rocked downwardly from the position there shown and the reversal to forward direction occurs when they are swung upwards again. From the shape of the cam groove I28 it will be observed that when the planetary gears have completed one orbital excursion they remain stationary, being so held by the concentric part of the cam groove then havin control of the cam-bowl I2]. While this condition continues, the slow motion of shaft H3 is transmitted unmodified through the gear train to the detaching rolls, driving them slowly forward, the same as if the system were not planetary.

Thus it will be seen that the detaching rolls reverse and recover their motion in one portion of the cycle and continue in slow forward rotation at constant velocity during the rest of the cycle. Preferably the reversal and recovery take place in less than half of the cycle as indicated by the cam-groove I28, being timed to accommodate the overlap without risk IOf snatching of the tail end by the cylinder half-lap.

That such quick reversal of the heavy masses of the detaching mechanism can be made without shock or noise is due to the fact that the planetary systemincludes more than a single planetary couple. As above pointed out, gears- Ill and H6 (sun-gear) constitute one couple, and. gears I20 and- I2I (sun-gear) constitute another. Also since link I23 and lever arm I25 are of unequal radius, the gear I I8 can be regarded as planetary to planet gear II1, although its orbital path is short. These couples have their respective sungears on different axes and they therefore work in tandem relation, eachaffectin'g the next in the series, and the effect of thus distributing the work amongst two or several couples, is to permit a lower orbital velocity of the planet gears and hence aneasy curvature for cam groove I28 such as would not otherwise be attainable in a cam element of admissible size, and this in turn makes speeds of 110 nips, or more, continuously practical and with heavy laps.

The-main gear 91 above mentioned is driven by the drive-pinion 98 in the-'drive headof the comber. This gear, through-its crank-M1199, the .1 connecting rod IIJIllFig, ii-and the crank; arm 

